©2008, Turnstile Publishing Company All Rights Reserved
12
TurfNet Monthly, May 2008
Greg Janey
As most of you can attest, the one
thing you can always count on
changing is the environment — and
turf conditions along with it. At some
point in every turf manager’s career,
they will encounter turf and/or soil
variations that alter the aftercut ap-
pearance of their reel mowers.
After reviewing some of the latest
TurfNet Forum discussions regarding
aftercut appearance (ACA) on fairways,
we at Toro felt it appropriate to shed
some light on how the reel interacts
with the turf and how changes in turf
conditions can alter that interaction, as
well as share a few adjustment tips to
compensate for changing conditions.
Rather than provide a step-by-step
diagnosis tool, we want to help you bet-
ter understand how variations across
the season affect ACA, and in turn help
you better achieve the ACA you desire.
Our recommendations result from thou-
sands of hours of field testing and years
of research and development that cul-
minated with our Reelmaster 5010
series.
Every golf course (and even individ-
ual fairways) has its own unique condi-
tions that often require special atten-
tion. These variations can include differ-
ences in turf and soil composition, culti-
vars, seasonal growing periods, geo-
graphic location, water, fertilizer, and
even individual micro-environments
within a single fairway.
As a manufacturer, we design reel
mowers to perform optimally across a
broad range of mowing conditions. We
also provide a series of targeted adjust-
ments to compensate for turf variability
when conditions fall outside the range
of ‘normal’.
Toro machines are shipped with
factory settings intended for the best
performance under the widest range of
conditions. They may, however, need to
be adjusted seasonally as dictated by
changes in specific turf conditions.
The following guidance is intended
to highlight ACA issues which can sur-
face during seasonal/environmental
changes, and provide directional adjust-
ments to compensate for them.
Changes in turf “spring rate”
causing bobbing...
Varying levels of turf unevenness cause
fairway cutting units to hop vertically as
they traverse the contours in the fair-
way. Firm turf and heavier cutting unit
weight help stabilize the reels to mini-
mize bobbing and the resulting uneven
cut.
There is, however, a window in early
spring when the turf comes out of dor-
mancy, the soil is very soft, and the
“spring rate” of the turf approaches the
level needed to create bobbing of the
cutting unit.
Spring rate
determines the
distance the turf deflects under the
weight of the cutting unit. The softer a
turf is — the lower the spring rate — the
longer it takes for the cutting unit to re-
stabilize and stop bouncing.
This turf condition is not isolated to
the beginning of the growth season —
but that is when it most often appears.
To understand this further, think of
a typical spring suspension on a car as
it rides over a bump. If the suspension is
stiff like a sports car (a high spring
rate), the tire (or in our case, the roller)
will traverse through the bump and
quickly stabilize back to following the
contours of the road.
On the other end of the spectrum, if
the suspension is softer (lower spring
rate) like a Cadillac, the tire will traverse
through the bump, absorb some of the
energy, and continue to bob or sway
vertically long after the initial impact.
This is how the cutting unit can become
“excited” to the point where bobbing
occurs and continues across a fairway.
To offset this variation in turf, Toro
engineered a turf compensation spring
to optimize front-to-rear weight bias of
the cutting unit. This adjustment gives
you the ability to aggressively follow un-
dulations of a fairway during normal
mowing conditions, and if needed, shift
more of the cutting unit weight to the
rear roller to reduce any bobbing that
may occur during the growing season.
Marketing Manager, Reelmaster Products
The Toro Company
Aftercut appearance, Part One: The science behind the art...
Soft turf with a low spring rate does not re-
stabilize cutting units as quickly as firm
turf does, so bobbing is more likely.
Under soft conditions, the turf compensation
springs may need to be adjusted to shift
more c/u weight to the rear roller.
(2 pages)
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